Lisa Calabrese

There is so much to see and discover in this amazing country! And I am so thrilled to help inspire people to travel to Colombia and experience its incredible beauty and diversity the same way I first did.

What places and activities do you specialize in?

"All types of tourism! From discovering the bustle of big cities to the charm of small towns."

How did you get involved in travel?

"After my first trip overseas to study abroad, I haven't stopped traveling and exploring this beautiful world of ours. It inspires me to see new places and experience new cultures, and travel has become my biggest passion. After working in education abroad, I realized what I loved most was encouraging people to visit amazing new places. After arriving in Colombia as a traveler, I quickly learned it was the place for me to put down roots and encourage others to come visit."

Please share a unique travel experience you will never forget.

"My trip deep into the coffee region of Antioquia honestly made the decision for me that Colombia was the place for me to stay. The incredible greenery and nature that surrounds that area took my breath away, and the kindness of the people is something truly unforgettable. "

Featured trips & expertise

In barely a week you can enjoy Colombia's famous coffee two ways: at a streetside cafe in Bogotá, and right at the source in the Zona Cafetera (coffee country). Your trip starts in the capital of Bogotá. Discover this city's colorful neighborhoods and museums on a walking tour, and be sure to sample its famous restaurants and nightlife. You'll then fly into the heart of the Zona Cafetera and overnight at a working coffee farm. Next visit nearby Salento, a colonial/Antioquian town that wears its colorful exuberance on its sleeve. While here, hike the unspoiled green mountains of the Cocora Valley, which are dotted with towering wax palms.

Perfect for travelers who love urban energy and culture, this fast-paced itinerary highlights four awesome Colombian cities: Bogotá, Medellín, Santa Marta, and Cartagena — each with their own special qualities and vibes. Too much city? You'll visit a coffee farm in the Andes and hike through a rainforest for a dose of beach and Caribbean Sea to round out this fun adventure.

This cultural, yet outdoorsy Colombian adventure starts off in one of Latin America's most striking and up-and-coming cities — Medellín — safe for travelers after a turbulent past. Enjoy the constant spring-like weather while exploring vibrant neighborhoods by foot and gondola before flying north to the Caribbean coast. From Santa Marta, relax on the beaches and trails of Tayrona Park and then head for the cobblestoned streets of Cartagena's inner-walled city, oozing with Spanish colonial romance and history.

Recent trip reviews for Lisa

Trip to colombia, Colombia
- Dec 23 - Dec 31, 2018

We loved all three hotels. BOG hotel was excellent, had a wonderful breakfast and great service and was walking distance to restaurants. Great location.
Allure Chocolate is a wonderful hotel in a wonderful location. Service was great. The rooms are a bit on the small side but still a wonderful choice.
Las Islas is a dream resort. It’s very new so still has a few problems which I am sure will be fixed. We had an amazing time there.
The transportation everywhere was great! Drivers were always... read more

We loved all three hotels. BOG hotel was excellent, had a wonderful breakfast and great service and was walking distance to restaurants. Great location.
Allure Chocolate is a wonderful hotel in a wonderful location. Service was great. The rooms are a bit on the small side but still a wonderful choice.
Las Islas is a dream resort. It’s very new so still has a few problems which I am sure will be fixed. We had an amazing time there.
The transportation everywhere was great! Drivers were always nice and the buses or vans were great. Apart from one problem where the driver didn’t know our flight got moved to an earlier time and wasn’t at the airport when we landed all of them were on time.
The only problem we had was the guide in Bogota who despite being a very nice person was very unprofessional , didn’t know the facts and gave us both days disappointing tours.
We can highly recommend a tour we booked ourselves in Cartagena with Experience Real Cartagena- Alex Rocha. His son Chris took us to a tour of Cartagena and a day later Palenque. It was amazing!!!!
Mathilde was always available on WhatsApp and always very helpful and so was NathLie who helped us with booking a restaurant in Bogota. Thank you all, we loved Colombia.

Trip to colombia, Colombia
- Aug 24 - Sep 7, 2018

I had a wonderful trip from start to finish. Lisa was the BEST travel agent in assisting me in organising my wonderful trip to Colombia who has also turned into a wonderful friend. She was very patient and accepting of all the changes, questions, additions that I had in organising my holiday and I would highly recommend her to anyone who wished to book their travels to Colombia. I would personally like to recommend and thank German in Medellin and Carlos in Salento for being wonderful... read more

I had a wonderful trip from start to finish. Lisa was the BEST travel agent in assisting me in organising my wonderful trip to Colombia who has also turned into a wonderful friend. She was very patient and accepting of all the changes, questions, additions that I had in organising my holiday and I would highly recommend her to anyone who wished to book their travels to Colombia. I would personally like to recommend and thank German in Medellin and Carlos in Salento for being wonderful people and being so passionate about their country and being wonderful tour guides during my visit. The places I stayed in Colombia I think made my trip that much more special as I stayed mostly at little B&B type places that had a more personal and local touch. I loved especially my stays in Santa Marta (Casa Verde) and Salento (Posada del Cafe) which had such a unique and wonderfully local touch to them with the loveliest people running them. I couldn't recommend Kim Kim highly enough for my trip through Colombia. It was the first time I have every used the company so I was a bit apprehensive at first but I could not fault the service at all. Everyone I came into contact with were so genuinely nice and friendly and all the guides very knowledgeable and fun. Thank you for a wonderful holiday and thank you Lisa for putting it all together for me and for being a loveliest person to deal with throughout my booking with Kim Kim! I can't thank you all enough. I loved every single minute of my time in Colombia.

Kate! Thank you so so much. I absolutely loved getting to meet you in Medellin and I'm so glad you enjoyed your time here in Colombia :) It was truly a pleasure getting to plan your trip and work with you!
All the best,
Lisa

Jardin, salamina, and cartagena, Colombia
- Aug 13 - Aug 20, 2018

We visited Colombia in August and traveled through Jardin, Salamina and Cartagena. Our travel specialist Lisa Calabrese, did an outstanding job in arranging everything including transfers between the towns, tours and our choice of hotels. We were looked after every step of the way right from the booking. Initially I wasn't sure which places I wanted to visit but Lisa helped me through and after week or two we finalised an itinerary. Lisa always answered my query promptly.
We even got to meet her in Medellin. I will certainly book more tours through her.

Colombia's caribbean coast - 8 days, Colombia
- Aug 18 - Aug 25, 2018

My cousin and I booked our trip through kimkim and I could not have been more pleased! Lisa, was our specialist, created our itinerary, took care of us, and tackled any concerns that we had. We had expert tour guides with us on several excursions that made all the difference. I felt completely safe and was able to have a stress-free experience in Colombia. Our trip was truly memorable!

Tayrona National Park was amazing we were able to see lots of monkeys and other wild life. Our... read more

My cousin and I booked our trip through kimkim and I could not have been more pleased! Lisa, was our specialist, created our itinerary, took care of us, and tackled any concerns that we had. We had expert tour guides with us on several excursions that made all the difference. I felt completely safe and was able to have a stress-free experience in Colombia. Our trip was truly memorable!

Tayrona National Park was amazing we were able to see lots of monkeys and other wild life. Our guide, Jaruen, was really stealthy at finding all kinds of creatures. He came equipped with a laser pointer so we were able to easily spot, what would have been camouflaged animals and birds, with ease. I think other people on the hiking trail were jealous. Our guide also held our table at the restaurant once we made it to the beach-which was really helpful because the line for lunch became soooo long! My cousin and I were able to just walk right in. At this point, YES, the other hikers were definitely jealous! Bug spray is a must.

In Santa Marta, I highly recommend Lulo Cafe Bar for a FABULOUS cocktail and great service! Lots of great restaurants on the same street as well. Also some fun street entertainment on the street and at the square-it’s the teenage boys dancing that steals the show! It was also waaaay nicer as far as restaurants go than at the lackluster beach so stick to the square! Bug spray is a must if you are eating outside.

Our day trip to Minca for waterfalls and a coffee bean farm tour had a great guide named, Fidel. He was very knowledgeable about birds and wildlife in this area. My cousin and I swear that we thought we were following Mowgli into the Jungle! He really knew his stuff and LIVED this lifestyle. He took us to several waterfalls and was able to identify all kinds of amazing humming birds. The best part was that he took us to an authentic roadside “barbeque”. They had a huge, open brick oven with slabs of meat roasting in it. My guess is whatever animal was in there was alive not too long before we ate it. I have no idea what I ate exactly, but it was good! Great views of the mountain side too! Bug spray is, again, a must.

Our hotel in Cartagena was very nice and smack in between the old town and Getsimani so it was easy to mix it up within the city walls as far as exploring goes. Carlos, the guy who seemed to run the show at breakfast, was extremely personable! He showed us all the different native fruits as well as how they made coffee- taught me some Spanish as well! Carlos went above and beyond because he really didn't have to do any of those things for us- the breakfast was excellent as it was!

Our Cartagena city tour guide, Sergio, was also very friendly and informative. He had lots of insight into the history, and architecture of the city, as well as some current events and also what I felt was "insider" information! We found the BEST local artist-and both my cousin and I had been looking the whole trip- thanks to Sergio! The artist’s name is Fini. I really am impressed by her artwork and I’m currently in the process of getting it framed! Can’t wait to put it up!

We went to Casa del Farol at the Rosario Islands for a day of snorkeling and relaxation. The snorkeling was really surprisingly good considering that the weather was overcast. There was a lot of colorful coral, and seriously amazing fish! Lunch, as most every meal of our trip, was excellent. My only complaint is that the day was too short!

Overall, this was an amazing, exciting, bucket-list type of trip! Thank you, Lisa and kimkim!

Bogota, coffee region, and cartagena, Colombia
- Aug 24 - Sep 2, 2018

Lisa was instrumental to the success of our trip. I would recommend to anyone interested in visiting Colombia for the first time or a repeat visit to book. I felt safe, informed, guided and assured. The guides were friendly and helpful and Lisa was able to track me thought the entirety of our trip.

Gloria, thank you so much! It was such a pleasure getting to work with you and having your family here. I love the pictures! I'm so glad you guys had a great trip, please come back and visit soon!
Best,
Lisa

Colombia's coffee region, Colombia
- Jul 13 - Jul 15, 2018

Lisa from Adventure Colombia was fantastic as our travel coordinator and advisor to the coffee region of Colombia. We flew from Cartagena to the city of Pereira where we were met by a private driver and van for the ride to Salento. Lisa had made reservations for us at the best hotel in right in the heart of the town. We were met by David our tour guide the next morning for a fantastic day of hiking in the Cocora Valley and touring OcaSa Coffee Farm. David has fantastic knowledge of the... read more

Lisa from Adventure Colombia was fantastic as our travel coordinator and advisor to the coffee region of Colombia. We flew from Cartagena to the city of Pereira where we were met by a private driver and van for the ride to Salento. Lisa had made reservations for us at the best hotel in right in the heart of the town. We were met by David our tour guide the next morning for a fantastic day of hiking in the Cocora Valley and touring OcaSa Coffee Farm. David has fantastic knowledge of the region and was extremely accommodating and enjoyable to be with.

Lisa also provided us with great information and ideas for our time in Cartagena, Bogota and Villa de Leyva.

Colombia is a beautiful country to visit. We felt safe everywhere we went and hotels, meals etc are extremely affordable when compared to traveling in Europe or the States. Although we do not speak much Spanish we found that many people had some English language skills.

KimKim and Aventure Colombia really did a great job in making our trip so fantastic.

Thank you so much, David! It was an absolute pleasure helping you plan your visit to the coffee region and I'm so glad you and your family enjoyed your time here in Colombia. Such beautiful photos! Come back and visit anytime!
All the best,
Lisa

Cartagena and tayrona, Colombia
- Mar 16 - Mar 19, 2018

The boat ride from Taganga to Playa Cristal was quite unpleasant. (The return trip was OK.) The sea was quite rough. My wife and I felt like we were being tossed around in a clothes dryer for close to an hour. We were bounced very hard on wooden benches with no cushions. I felt very sore for several days after the boat ride. You should warn people about how unpleasant the journey can be.

The drive between Cartagena and Santa Marta was also a bit scary at times, as the drivers tried to pass trucks.

Hi Frank,
Thank you very much for your feedback! We will make sure to take your comments into account for future travelers. It was great working with you and I hope you enjoyed your time in Colombia!
All the best,
Lisa